That being the case, we have decided against including that in our list of five races and have instead made our pick from events that have gone under the title of European Grand Prix, regardless of the circuit at which they were held.

So we are going to ask you to debate the merits of the 1993, 1995, 1999, 2005 and 2007 European GPs - as well as any other races we may have left off that list that you think should be on it. As ever, we will select a race to highlight, influenced by your preferences - and if that event is from the era in which the BBC owned the rights to F1, we will broadcast the full 'Grand Prix' highlights programme at the time. In this case, that means 1993 and 1995.

It - and the shorter highlights of all races - will be shown on the bbc.co.uk/sport website and on the red button on digital TV in the week leading up to this year's race, which is on 23 August. Only UK users will be able to see the material, though.

The more knowledgeable enthusiasts among you will already be salivating at the prospects of seeing the highlights of some of those races. But for those of you who need your memories jogging, here's a quick run-through of what happened in the races we have picked.

Ayrton Senna's victory at Donington Park in 1993 is already firmly ensconced in F1 lore as one of the Brazilian legend's finest races, in which he put on display all the breathtaking virtuosity for which he became famous throughout his career.

Starting in fourth place on a wet track, Senna's McLaren was briefly down to fifth place at the first corner - at which point he began arguably the greatest opening lap in F1 history.

Having passed Michael Schumacher out of Redgate, Senna drove around the outside of Karl Wendlinger's Sauber at the daunting downhill Craner Curves. He dived inside the second placed Williams of Damon Hill into the uphill McLean's corner before finally taking the lead from Hill's team-mate Alain Prost into the penultimate corner, the Melbourne Hairpin.

That was just the beginning of the demonstration - Senna then proceeded to pull away into a race of his own, at one point lapping the entire field before easing up towards the end. And in a moment unique in F1, he set the fastest lap of the race having driven through the pit lane - it was a shorter route, and in those days there was no pit-lane speed limit.

No-one doubts the greatness of that performance. But before you all rush off and vote for it, I would urge you to consider the merits of the other four choices, all of which are outstanding in their own way.

Memories of the great drives of Michael Schumacher's career tend to focus on his years at Ferrari, but the 1995 European GP at the Nurburgring certainly deserves inclusion among them.

It was a classic tactical victory by Schumacher and his long-time associate Ross Brawn, in some ways reminiscent of his famous victory for Ferrari at the Hungaroring in 1998 - but with added on-track overtaking to heighten the thrills.

An entertaining fight between Schumacher's Benetton, Williams drivers David Coulthard and Damon Hill, and Ferrari's Jean Alesi distilled into a climax between Schumacher and Alesi.

The Ferrari did only two stops, Schumacher three and the German had to close a gap of more than 20 seconds after making his final stop with 15 laps to go. With Alesi struggling on worn tyres and Schumacher revelling in his fresh ones, the Benetton closed at an astonishing rate.

Knowing a win would put him on the cusp of a second consecutive world title, he took the lead around the outside on the way into the final chicane with three laps to go. It was a thrilling finish that had the partisan crowd on its feet.

This decade has also provided a couple of crackers - both of them featuring storming drives by Fernando Alonso.

In 2005, much of the race was dominated by Kimi Raikkonen, his McLaren the fastest car in the race. But the Finn paid a heavy price for two lapses in concentration. First, he ran off the road at the chicane and damaged a barge board, an incident that may have contributed to him locking up his wheels badly while lapping Jacques Villeneuve's BAR.

Tyre changes were banned that year - and any driver who made one was given a penalty. Had McLaren chosen to bring Raikkonen in as soon as he damaged the tyre, he had the pace to recover and win a place on the rostrum, perhaps even win.

But they gambled on leaving him out. Alonso, whose Renault by now was 15 seconds adrift, realised he had a sniff of a win, and he drove right on the edge for the rest of the race, slowly eating away at Raikkonen's advantage as the McLaren struggled with its tyres.

Two years later, in another event turned thrilling by the Nurburgring's capricious weather, Alonso showed off another of his skills - overtaking.

Heavy rain on the first lap led to a number of cars spinning off and the race being stopped. When it was restarted under safety car conditions 20 minutes later it was with the unusual site of the field being led by the Spyker of debutant Markus Winkelhock, whose team correctly anticipated the rain and fitted wet tyres to his car at the end of the warm-up lap.

Quickly, normal service was resumed, however, and Felipe Massa seemed on course for an easy victory, his faster Ferrari pulling away from Alonso's McLaren.

But then it rained again with eight laps to go. And after both men had fitted intermediate tyres, the Spaniard was much faster than the Brazilian and after closing the gap rapidly, Alonso took the lead with a brilliant move around the outside of the fifth gear Turn Six.

Choosing one race out of that cracking selection is not going to be easy - so debate away.

Comment number 1.

Comment number 2.

Definitely 1995. 1993 was a great first lap and overall race performance by Senna but the first lap has been overplayed to the point where I'm not sure I'd want to see extended highlights of it, so it has to be 1995, which I've never seen.

Comment number 5.

Comment number 6.

I am not old enough to remember 1993, but would like to see it just for Senna's magic.1999 was great just for the Stewart team winning, and 2007 was just hillarious to see a number of cars aquaplaning off on the first corner, while a Spyker lead by over 30 seconds!!All great races though.

Comment number 7.

Completely agreed, last years race at Valencia was pretty boring. Hopefully this years race will be much better.

Also completely agree with the choice of 5. Every single one of those races was a belter. Certainly all of them are up there with my favourite races of all time.

As for full highlights, please show 1995. As you said Nikolas_GR, while 1993 was memorable, the first lap has been replayed way too many times recently.

1995 was an awesome race, A fantastic wheel to wheel fight between Schumacher and Hill and then another wheel to wheel battle between Schumacher and Alesi towards the end of the race. Changeable wet dry conditions, lots of close racing and prob one of Schumachers greatest wins :)

Very sad to hear that Schumacher will not be taking part in Valencia now :(

Comment number 8.

1999 for me. I always loved Johnny Herbert, and the Stewart team, so throw in a phenomenally exciting race, with everything from joy to heartache (Badoer breaking down in tears when his engine failed), and a few bungled pit-stops, and it's about as good as it gets for me.

Comment number 9.

I also can't wait to see the highlights from 2007, because Murray Walker commentated on it for the BBC as a one off appearance on Radio 5 Live. So please Andrew I hope we get a good highlights package for this little known Murray gem!

Comment number 10.

I'm totally gutted Schumacher can take no more part in racing because of the neck injuries he sustained in a bike accident months ago. 1993 and Alonso's class in Nuremberg I suppose, though I'm really not feeling it right now...

Comment number 14.

Comment number 15.

1993 please. Must have set a world record for the number of pitstops performed. Especially Williams, who seemed to bring their drivers in every other lap, while Senna ignored the rain for most of it and carried on with slicks until the last possible moment....

Comment number 16.

Comment number 17.

1993 at Donnington was a great race, but let's not forget about 1985 at Brands Hatch, Mansells' first ever GP win (which would be my choice) and what about 1983, not a classic race but the first at the the 'new' Nurburgring!

Comment number 21.

I'm disappointed 1985 isn't on the list, but I'd love to see the 1993 highlights. In fact in response to those who say that the 1st lap is repeated way too much, it just makes me want to see the rest of the race even more!

Comment number 23.

A hard one this time, all excellent races... Donington would be appropiate, with the British GP (possibly) off there next year. So would '99 featuring Badoers strongest race in the Minardi, plus it had the one of the most unexpected winners ever. '05 highlighted, for me at least, Raikkonens biggest weakness: the habit of making mistakes when pushing, something he still does. I think he went off track three times in that race, something you cannot do when trying to make your tyres last a whole race. Montoya nursed them much better in a similar situation at Monza, later in the year. '07 had some of the unpredicabilty of '99, and a wonderful little dice between Massa nd Alonso, but for me it's too recent to be considered a 'classic'.Which leaves my choice. 1995. Now, I'm not a particular fan of Schumacher, but that drive was fantastic. Left for dead by Alesi when the track started drying, in the final stages he made Hill and Coulthard (in Williams-Renaults, mind you) look like amatuers and could, perhaps should, have settled for a risk-free second behind Alesi. Instead, he took the Ferrari around the outside for his second win on home soil that year. A truly classic performance.

Comment number 30.

Another shout for Brands Hatch 1985 (I miss the grungy feel of the 80s from this list), and also Jerez 1997, for obvious reasons. (I wonder if this one might be saved for the "best title deciders" before Abu Dhabi - if it's shown at any point, could you please show the qualifying highlights as well for the incredible sight of the first 3 cars posting absolutely identical times)

If you were stretching a point, back to the days when one national GP would be designated the European GP as an honorary title, you could do a lot worse than James Hunt's win at Zandvoort in 1976, when 2 seconds covered the first 3. I'd love to see that one.

1993 was notable for the opening lap, but after that it wasn't much of a race. I loves me some Senna, but as a contest, it was bobbins. The other races mentioned are all good stuff, though.

Comment number 42.

Comment number 43.

1999 for me- was an excellent race, full of drama and excitement. Frentzen would have been in sniffing distance of a title has he won for Jordan before his car failed too, I think Diniz rolled at turn 2, Fisi binning it along with DC, Ralf Schumacher puncture.

1993 has been done so much- it was tremendous, but 1999 is underrated!

Comment number 45.

I'd also go with 1993 - a classic race in every sense of the word, and some of the finest wet driving ever - not just by Senna either, it has to be said.

I'd echo the thoughts of many who wanted to see the 1985 race at Brands Hatch - Nigel Mansell's first win really was the donkey off the back and that was the start of Mansell Mania for many, including Murray.

And I hope we get Murray for the 2007 highlights seeing as he was commentating on Radio 5 Live that day. In fact I turned ITV's sound off and had Murray on, and it was faaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic! :)

Comment number 46.

Comment number 47.

1985 Gp at Brands Hatch has to have a mention as it was Mansells first ever GP victory, and it is a bit earlier than the others so gives a bit of variety in sight and sound with the wedge shaped Williams and deep-throated turbo engines.

Wasn't there a collision early in the race between Rosberg & Senna which effectively gave Mansell a free run at victory?

1993 is clearly going to top the group simply becuase of the genuis of Senna that day and the way everyone else on the track couldn;t seem to cope with the conditions.

Comment number 49.

Comment number 50.

Agree with those who said 1985 Brands Hatch should have been on the list, especially as all the British GP choices were, if I recall correctly, Silverstone races.

My "vote" for an extended backstory would be 1999 because there was a lot in that race worth mentioning apart from Johnny Herbert's win (Irvine in the pits on 3 wheels as Ferrari tried desparately to lose the championship ...) but as that won't affect the duration of the edit we might see, I'll have to say 1993.

Comment number 51.

A hard choice this time. 1993 was a good race but it was more the first lap that made it, despite an awesome drive from Senna. I would personally go for 1999 - the race that nobody wanted to win. Frentzen, Coulthard, Ralf and Fisi all fell out of the lead, and Ferrari even forgot to put four wheels on their car! It was a great level-headed drive from Herbert to take the win

Other European GPs which haven't been mentioned in 1997 (the famous Schumi-Villeneuve showdown), 1996 (Jacques' first win) and 2001 (when the Schumi brothers near crashed into the pit wall at the start)

Comment number 52.

"1995 but I would pick 2007 if you lot could be bothered to produce a half hour package"

Davepg5, you should pay attention to what's been written in the article...

"if that winner is from the era in which the BBC owned the rights to F1, we will broadcast the full 'Grand Prix' highlights programme at the time. In this case, that means 1993 and 1995"

I think any of the selection are worth seeing again, 1995 was great, 1999, a Johnny Herbert victory is always worth watching again, but it has to be 1993, an absolute masterclass by the master of the modern era, remember, at one point, no one else was even on the SAME LAP as Senna...

Comment number 53.

2007 was epic, one of the most eventfull races in years with a crazy first lap. It wasn't just the first lap but the rest of the race, the alonso-massa battle was epic supported by the argument between the two just before the podium. My second choice would be the 2005 race the closing laps were epic and well comentated by itv, somthing the bbc with legard cannot do.

Comment number 59.

1999 was a great race with a brilliant result, Herbert in a Stewart Ford wins!!, but for me it has to be 1993 with Senna smashing the field in his McLaren Ford, amazing drive made even better because i was there!! Never been happier to be dripping wet. :)

Comment number 64.

Comment number 65.

Definately 1993 and 1999, two cracking races. And definately 2007 for the carnage at the first corner when it started to pour down, Jenson going from the back of the grid pretty much to 4th at the end of the first lap, and Alonso passing Massa with only a few laps to go!

Comment number 66.

I was born in 1993, so when i started watching F1 in 2003 i hadn't seen any races before 2003 untill i got the season reviews, but i still only have 1996-present, so i haven't seen any race highlights from 1950-1995 apart from races already on Classic F1!

I loved 1999 and 2007, 2005 was a bad race for me as a Kimi fan, but i would love to watch extended highlights on 1993, because so many people are saying that it was fantasic!

Comment number 73.

For me it's 1999. That's the year I started watching F1 as a nine year old. It was such a crazy race with Frentzen, Coulthard, Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher all leading before Johnny Herbert took victory. I found the entire race on youtube a year or two ago and I found a quote from Murray Walker that I couldn't remember, it was about the Ferrari pit-stop missing-tyre debacle: "and that's a major mismalfunction for Ferrari."

Comment number 75.

I agree with all those options... though in 1997 didn't Ralf scupper Michael's championship hopes by taking him out along with Fisichella at the start, would love to see that if i'm thinking of the right race... although I think it was classified as the Luxemberg GP for some reason!!

Of the choices I'd say 1995 with 2007 a close 2nd... two brilliant races... not just drives... to take nothing away from a splendid 1993 drive by Ayrton, which I also look forward to seeing.

Comment number 76.

By the way, re. comment no. 10, Nuremberg and the Nurburgring are nowhere near each other. Nuremberg is an old town down in Bavaria, unfortunately notorious for its significance in the Nazi era. The Nurburgring is in the Eifel mountains, close to the castle Nurburg, close to the Belgian border (the Nurburgring & Spa Francorchamp are only about 70 km apart).

Comment number 77.

At first thought I didnt realise there was so much choice for the European GP. Although all were great races, especially 07, but there can be only 1 winner, for that first lap, its Senna at Donnigton 93. I can still remember being sat on the sofa glued to the tv as this superstar performed the imposible, just a few miles away from where I was sat, and it was then, that exact moment, that I came to realise why Senna was a little special. Sadly I was sat in the same spot 9 months later, watching him at Imola. That first lap at Donington, explains just what a legend Senna was. And given the BBC showed that lap on the website earlier this year, on the 15th aniversary, i take it you may agree.

Comment number 79.

1997 or 1985 if you can rustle up some highlights. Both good close races until the decisive incidents, and notable for 97's freaky qualifying session, and Mansell's breakthrough win with echoes of Webber's one this year.

1995 from your list, if only to see and hear that year's Ferrari again.

Comment number 80.

Comment number 81.

I'm not so bothered which race you show (well, I suppose '93 for preference) - but I do mind which commentary team you use: PLEASE NOT dear old Murray Walker - his voice is annoying and more dated than a pre-war Auto-Union and, worse, his commentary, cock-ups and silly sayings get in the way of the on-track action.

Simon Taylor was the Radio 5 commentator in 1993 and what a magnificent job he did keeping track of the numerous tyre changes that were a feature of that fantastic wet / dry / wet / dry / wet race.

Comment number 86.

it just has to be 1999, a scary moment at the beginning of the race with Diniz flipping the Sauber, heatbreak for Badoer breaking down just 4 laps before the flag and for Frentzen and DC as their championship challenge comes to an end, Ralf and Fisi throwing away the chance to take their first win, pitstop problems for Ferrari, Stewart GP's debut win and all this in the closing stages of possibly the most exciting season in F1

Comment number 87.

Odd that the previous additions have been very balanced and yet you've left out 1985!

There's only one winner. 1993 was absolutely epic. Even if Senna destroyed the field the way he did it was absolute genius, judging the conditions and on the absolute limit. As twelve year old boy who had hated Senna I was privileged to have witnessed a genius at work.

Comment number 88.

Damn, this one is a tough one to choose. As dominant as Senna was in 1993, theres not really enough action to demand extended highlights. 1995 is a decent race, as was 2007 (although I may be a bit biased on that one, as I was ecstatic to see Markus Winklehock leading early on >_> ). 2005 was an exciting race, but I've got to go with 1999 for my pick, as it was a thrilling race all the way through, with Jackie Stewart picking up his only win as a Team Co-manager. Again, I may be slightly biased having just read Jackie's Autobiography, but it was a massively popular win all through the paddock, and I'd love to see extended highlights of that race, as it was one of the few I missed of the 1999 season T_T

Comment number 90.

Those who are saying 1997, don't forget that they've said for Abu Dhabi (as it's a new race and the final race) that they'll be giving us a choice of 5 title deciders, so 1997 may be an option there. Also I'm sure they've said they plan to continue this next year, so for every race they do it for, make suggestions for races they missed out that should have been there, and they may appear in next season's selection.

Comment number 96.

Donington has a greasy surface when it is wet, owing to a nearby airfield. Senna's customer Ford had eight cylinders to the Williams ten, a factory Renault. Andretti went off on lap one, so the McLaren was alone as well. Only two names have won a Grand Prix at that track. Bernd Rosemayer and Ayrton Senna. That should tell how great the 2010 British Grand Prix will be, by the way. My vote is for the 1993 race.

Comment number 97.

Comment number 98.

1999 please. Great as the other races were, they were basically remembered for short bursts of action. The 1999 had drama from start to finish with crashes, spins, slides, overtaking, and tactical dramas and a very worthy winner.

That said, the first few laps of 2007 were truly magical, the sight of car after car spinning at turn 1 was hilarious! :D

Comment number 99.

I suspect though you've forgotten that the 1997 title decider at Jerez, where Schumi tried to run Villeneuve off the track, also went under the European Grand Prix title (that year's race at the Nurburgring went under the laughable title of "Luxembourg Grand Prix").

Comment number 100.

me personally think that the best race was when raikonons tyre exploded to let alonso finally take the victory. im not completely sure what year this was but all i do know is that it had me on the edge of my seat. but then again the one where ayrton senna won after starting in 4th place dropping back to 8th i think then go on a mission to overtake all the drivers infront of him to take the leadall in the 1st lap then lapped the whole field before taking a sunday style drive to finish one of the best ever wins in F1 history. i would not like to choose between all five because they were all absolute brilliant in there own way.

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